Benjamin Netanyahu

A person briefed on the operation told NPR it was expected to last a few days, with Israel's military focusing on targeting Iran's missile program.

Sirens are wailing in Israel, warning people to stay in shelters.

Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

Now they're well into the second stage.

And by next spring at most by next summer at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage from there.

It's only a few months, possibly a few weeks.

before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb.

No, the issue is not

The issue is not – first of all, are there other nations that are developing nuclear weapons?

Yes.

First let me say what they are, and then let me make a suggestion on how to proceed.

Thank you.

The answer is categorically yes.

The two nations that are vying, competing with each other, who will be the first to achieve nuclear weapons is Iraq and Iran.

And Iran, by the way, is also outpacing Iraq in the development of ballistic missile systems that they hope will reach the eastern seaboard of the United States within 15 years.

The most dangerous of these regimes is Iran, that has wed a cruel despotism to a fanatic militancy.

If this regime or its despotic neighbor Iraq were to acquire nuclear weapons,

This could presage catastrophic consequences, not only for my country, and not only for the Middle East, but for all of mankind.

I believe that only the United States can lead this vital international effort to stop the nuclearization of terrorist states.

But the deadline for attaining this goal is getting extremely close.